Orthopedic procedures often require the attachment of soft tissue to bone and/or the attachment of one section of bone to another section of bone. Typically, such procedures are carried out by implanting one or more bone anchors into a bone surface and using one or more suture lines which have been passed through an eyelet of the bone anchor to join the target tissue or bone to the bone surface. However, typical bone anchor and suture line assemblies require a configuration that can make it difficult for a surgeon to manage, track, and organize the separate suture line portions extending from the surgical site.
In addition, typical suture line configurations can increase the risk that a surgeon may accidentally unload the suture line from the anchor by incorrectly manipulating the suture line, e.g., by confusing separate portions of the suture line, and/or by pulling a portion of the suture line too far. Such unloading can render the unloaded anchor useless and/or can complicate the surgery and increase overall surgery time and cost. Furthermore, the portion of the suture line engaged with the eyelet of the anchor can often represent a weak spot in the tissue repair, limiting the overall strength of the repair and increasing the risk of suture failure.
For at least these reasons, there is an ongoing need to provide alternative and/or additional orthopedic ligation devices, assemblies, and methods. Such devices, assemblies, and methods should be capable of providing suture line configurations that allow a surgeon to manage, track, and organize the separate suture line portions extending from the surgical site. In addition, such devices, assemblies, and methods should reduce the risk of accidental unloading of the suture line from the bone anchor and should provide sufficient strength to the tissue-to-bone or bone-to-bone repair. At least some of the embodiments disclosed below are directed toward these objectives.